2x04 If You Don't See Blood, You Didn't Come to Play

Man, talk about escalation. Yet another eventful ending, just like with the previous episode. Well, Sophie, Leary did tell you that it wouldn't end well with the two of you and that there would be a price to pay for "turning against your own people." It's on you now that you're filled with regret. It's a little too late to second-guess yourself, Sophie, in the wise words from Zing in the first season to Mai Ling. The ending of this episode will do a lot for the next episode and the progression of things.

First and foremost, it's obviously going to deal a HUGE blow to Penelope. Like, is it even possible to repair all of that damage? And even if it is, I imagine it will require a LOT of money. Money that she definitely doesn't have; and probably won't be able to get. I'm very interested to see how that will play out. But at least the factory was closed when it happened, so there wasn't any Chinese labor that got caught in the crossfire, which makes me move to my next assessment.

There were a few deaths, just not including Chinese labor. The problem is, the deaths did include three Hop Wei hatchetmen. And I'm assuming that Father Jun is unaware of that little security venture that Ah Sahm and Young Jun did, so I'm expecting that Father Jun will find out about it through finding out about the deaths of three Hop Wei hatchetmen. That may cause the Hop Wei to start going after Leary and his men, too.

Furthermore, and it took me a few hours after watching this episode a second time to realize this, Ah Sahm and Young Jun's opium supply was hidden in one of those furnaces. There's a good chance that the dynamite explosions may have affected the one in question. If that's the case, Father Jun is probably not only going to find out that both of them and a few others of the Hop Wei's hatchetmen were providing security for Penelope but also that both of them are selling opium behind his back, and with opium from a local source, not China. But on the surface, those two things seem to be a little much to be revealed to Father Jun at the same time, which is why I'm somewhat expecting only one of them to be revealed to him, or neither. And Ah Sahm and Young Jun will come up with a good enough lie to tell him about what happened to those three Hop Wei hatchetmen.

I like how plot threads are being intertwined and weaved together. I'm guessing that it's been happening before, but I really noticed it in this episode. The plotline with Chao and the Chinese swordsman is starting to get some traction. Back with the episode in the first season where Lee got attacked by Zing and two other Fung Hai hatchetmen - the same episode where Bill and Lee went to Chao to pressure him some more to give them information on the Chinese swordsman - I'm pretty sure I mentioned in my comment that my theory is that Chao knows who it is, and to protect himself and his business, he'll have to give them someone and that someone won't be Ah Toy; he'll throw someone else under the bus. I had the thought of Lai, considering how she started practicing movement sequences with the sword. But most importantly, I figured that Chao would throw SOMEONE under the bus. And now, that time has come. I'm a little surprised that it's Zing. But I'm also a little concerned. Chao is a character who is cautious and careful, yet now he's doing something so reckless. He's becoming too hasty to do something about Zing. It may go horribly wrong.

You can't help but feel bad for Bill, even if it's just a little bit. It was subtle, but it was noticeable that he and Lucy weren't on "good terms," so to speak, back in the first season because of his gambling. And it can be assumed that it's been like that for some time, considering he had probably already been gambling long before we were introduced to his wife and children. But he was able to mend the relationship and dynamic. Perhaps not fully, but he was able to mend it some. And things were great, the best they've ever been, especially with Lee in the mix. But now, everything has crumbled away. I wouldn't say that there was any crumbling the first time. But this time, there was, and it may very well be irreparable. Unfortunately, even though Bill supposedly quit gambling, his debt came back to haunt him and in a worse way than having to pay. He shouldn't have "tested" Zing and "quit" working for him. There's a good chance that something similar would've ended up happening, eventually, even if he didn't do that. But he's at fault for this, though not completely, perhaps. And you still can't help but feel bad for him.

The acting by Joanna Vanderham and Celine Buckens in this episode was decently exceptional. I wasn't too impressed with Joanna's acting in the first season, although I did see an improvement by the end. She must've gotten into the groove of playing this particular character. In this episode, she delivered a well-done acting performance in the scene where she lashed out at Sophie. And Celine's acting at the end of the episode was good. Honestly, I think her more minor, inaudible performance at the end of this episode was better than Joanna's peak performance in this episode. That's my humble opinion; you're free to disagree. And I think Celine's acting is more impressive considering that she's only played this specific character for four episodes, unlike Joanna, who has already played her character for much more. I'm by no means ridiculing Joanna and her acting; the writing is more of the culprit. I guess Joanna hasn't had many moments to really showcase her acting. Whereas, with Celine, she has already gotten a scene like that at the end of this episode. And the acting of Tom Weston-Jones and Kieran Bew was good in this episode, too, on a minor scale.

I wonder what the photograph concerning Buckley is. This is a random guess, but my first thought was that it has something to do with his amputated leg. There was a minor, quick scene in the premiere of the first season - I think it was - that showed him caressing his amputated leg and looking at a mirror. And he looked a little bitter. That was my first thought about what the photograph could concern because there was never anything more regarding his leg after that scene. But I don't see how there could be something incriminating enough about whatever happened to his leg to be insurance for Mai Ling. My second thought is more probable. The photograph may have to do with this plotline with Buckley and that prostitute. Well, maybe not that particular prostitute. But maybe it has something to do with prostitutes, in general - if this particular one isn't the first one he's picked up and done low-key creepy, germophobe sort of things with.

Honestly, this episode was underwhelmingly boring and not very entertaining. The ending was probably the only enjoyable and good part about it. Hopefully, given the nature of the ending and how much it escalated things, the next episode will be more enjoyable. I hope that will be the case, and the following episodes will be just as enjoyable, too. Because if not, that'll be slightly disappointing. As I said, this episode was boring and not very entertaining. So, I'm hoping that each episode will start being more entertaining as I get closer to the end of the season.